I thought by waiting a day to write about Tuesday, I could pull together a cohesive account of my feelings. I was wrong. I'm still without words. I do know that I am proud. I am proud to be surrounded by an amazing group of friends and family that I have been blessed to share all of the excitement and the anxieties with over the last couple of years. I am proud to be an American (I have never typed or said out loud those words in my entire life). I am proud to be a part of history. I am proud that countries all over the world now see us as the bright country we have proven to be and that the "Stupid Americans" era has come to an end. We have witnessed a lot of destruction and sadness over the last few years and we were determined to fight for something great - something we were told could never happen. We were told "we are all young and naive". Guess what? You were wrong. Young, old, black, white, gay, straight, college educated, non-college educated, blue collar, white collar, Democrat, Republican and Independents — we all came together in ways that no other campaign has ever come together to fight for what we care for and for what we know to be right. This is not the end but rather a beginning; a tiny small step towards change. There is a lot of work to be done and it's going to be a long and gruesome 4 years but I truly believe we will do it. On a large scale, it's time for parties to come together and on a smaller scale, for us citizens to get involved in our communities. One (of the many) insults we witnessed during this election was Palin's put down of community organizers with laughter erupting during her VP nomination speech. These are the people who shape our future and our children's future in this country. Obama showed us that we can be whatever we want, now it's time to not only believe it, but to act on it.
Now, I will end this with some true Louisiana flavor!
I love the graphic. How fantastic. But even better is your description of how this moment--a moment so many have waited for, for so many years--feels.
Good guys (and gals) do finish first! I haven't completely processed the fact that we've prevailed. And that our work has really only just begun.
Posted by: John | Thursday, November 06, 2008 at 01:38 PM
well said mel. and if you ever want to get more involved in radical politics there is a nola branch of the iso you can check out! i am really feeling like i need a vacation so perhaps we'll come out to see you soon...
Posted by: dan | Thursday, November 06, 2008 at 04:24 PM